[Rockhounds] Carbon Reservoir

[J Bryan Kramer]

This page shows that the ocean reservoir is about 38000 gigatons and
everything else is minor in comparison, but it does not show the geological
reservoir

<http://ethomas.web.wesleyan.edu/ees123/carbcyc.htm>

This page says limestone is the largest component but doesn't give a number:

<http://green.wikia.com/wiki/Carbon_cycle>

BK

On Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 10:45, Axel Emmermann <axel.emmermann at pandora.be>wrote:

> Hi Bill
>
> I would diversify that to:
> Inorganic CO2 bound in geology - free CO2 - organic CO2
>
> Inorganic carbon bound in geology: is more than limestone. It's marble, ALL
> corbanoate-minerals (yes, including scapolite (sorry, couldn't resist),
> dolomite, ankerite, calcite, smithsonite and marbles and diamonds and...).
>
> Free CO2: atmospheric AND dissolved in the oceans and other water bodies
> (including bubbles in the arctic ice cap and glaciers.  These reservoirs
> are
> constantly exchanging CO2 so that is why I would prefer to look at them as
> one reservoir.
>
> Organic carbon; plant and animal life but also cubic miles or rotting
> vegetation in the large delta areas of rivers like the Amazon, Nile,
> Mississippi ... Also the vast (billions of tons) of frozen methane-hydrate
> that is locked in permafrost. Also coal and petroleum are inorganic in
> origin. Most of oceanic deposits of carbonate silt are from skeletons of
> microscopic animals and thus from organic origin.
>
> If we go look at the Earth and represent it as a ball of 1 meter in
> diameter, the crust would be only about 1 mm thick.
> I'm guessing here but I think that most of that is sand, granite, basalt
> and
> only a small portion is (about 5% to 10 %) is actually non-igneous rock.
> Most of the carbonate rocks would be sedimentary (metamorphous) and from
> karstification.
>
> Personally I 'm inclined to think that inorganic carbon in all its forms is
> the largest reservoir. But I've been wrong before ;-))))
> There is an awful lot of life and remains of life on the planet and it's
> all
> carbon based.
>
> Cheers
> Axel
>
>
>
>
> > -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
> > Van: rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com
> [mailto:rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com]
> > Namens William Dicks
> > Verzonden: maandag 13 oktober 2008 12:36
> > Aan: rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com
> > Onderwerp: [Rockhounds] Carbon Reservoir
> >
> > Could someone tell me what is the largest carbon reservoir?
> > Some sources I have read say the oceans and others say limestone
> > deposits.
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Bill Dicks
> > Teacher,
> > Northville High School
> > Board Member,
> > Michigan Earth Science Teachers Association
> >
> > --
> > _______________________________________________
> > Rockhounds at drizzle Mailing List
> > Subscription Services:
> > http://lists.drizzle.com/mailman/listinfo/rockhounds
> > List Home Page, with a link to the List Usage Policy:
> > http://www.eclecticlapidary.com/Rockhounds/index.html
>
> --
> _______________________________________________
> Rockhounds at drizzle Mailing List
> Subscription Services:
> http://lists.drizzle.com/mailman/listinfo/rockhounds
> List Home Page, with a link to the List Usage Policy:
> http://www.eclecticlapidary.com/Rockhounds/index.html
>



-- 


"The thunderbolt falls on an inch of ground; but the light of it fills the
horizon."

                       Ralph Waldo Emerson

J Bryan Krämer
North Florida, USA
photos at:
http://pbase.com/photoburner


--- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
multipart/alternative
  text/plain (text body -- kept)
  text/html
---